Weighing of the Heart (Volume 1)

by Jessica Florence

  He stopped in front of me and smiled. His smile made my knees feel weak. His lips pulled back to reveal perfect white teeth. I moved slightly closer to him, unable to control myself.

  “I see no tears today, Thalia. Are you better?” he asked. He genuinely looked like he wanted to know. He eyes were searching in mine for an answer.

  “The tears are gone.” I spoke a little louder that I should. “Now all that is left is hopeless anger. I have no choice but to marry this warrior. To be his prize, a wife to show off.” My free hand starts waving around enthusiastically.

  The stranger looked upset; I didn’t mean to anger him. “I apologize; I didn’t mean to have an outburst like that,” I told him.

  His hands at his sides were clenched so hard his knuckles were turning white. “You are no man’s prize, Thalia,” he said through his clenched teeth. I felt an urge to soothe him. I know I shouldn’t, it wasn’t proper but I didn’t care

  I raised my hand and brought it to his cheek. His eyes widened as if I surprised him. His features softened, his hands unclenched. I stared up at him.

  “Thank you,” I told him. His eyes closed as his face leaned into my touch. I felt a strange zing go through our connected skin. Something in me was reaching out for him.

  “Thalia,” he whispered.

  “Thalia.” That same voice was calling for me. I slowly came back to reality. What a dream.

  “Wake up, sleeping beauty. You need to eat something, and I bet you need some more medicine.” I gradually open my eyes to see that face, the same face from my dream.

  “I had another dream,” I said through my hoarse voice. It hurt to speak, but I had to talk to him. I sat up and looked at him. His head was cocked to the side slightly, like the man in my dream. This was so strange.

  “I don’t know what is happening to me. I had another dream. You were in it, except it was you without the tattoo again. And it was back in ancient Egypt again. Like a continuation from the last one. I was being given away to a man and I didn’t like it. I was fighting, and then the arrows, and then you were there.” I couldn’t stop my mouth from moving. I put my head in my hands, feeling so confused. I wish I knew why I was having these dreams. God, I felt horrible. If only I could blame these dreams on the medicine but I was having them before that.

  “Thalia, look at me,” Tristan asked kindly.

  I did. He was looking at me with that strange intense stare. “Relax, I’m sure everything will reveal itself in time. We can’t always control what happens to us, but we can control how we react to it. I think you should just enjoy these little dreams. Don’t let them bother you.” He looked sincere. “Everything will be okay, I promise.”

  I didn’t know how he could make a promise like that, but surprisingly I believed him. I nodded too. “Okay.”

  He gave me one of his cute smiles. “Now let’s get you fed, and maybe a little walk in the garden again to get you moving. Okay?”

  I couldn’t resist giving into anything this man wanted. “Yes.”

  He got up and walked into the bathroom. I heard some shuffling around and he came out with two more pills for my cold. “I’ll get you some more water,” he told me and then grabbed my glass and went to refill it.

  When he came back, I took the glass from his outstretched hand and swallowed my pills, followed by the gulp of water. Even the cold water didn’t soothe my throat. My sinuses were pounding. Ugh. I groaned.

  “I’m going to get working in the kitchen; you just sit there and look pretty.” He winked and went to work.

  “That’s right, get in the kitchen, woman!” I hooted at him as best as I could. He chuckled.

  I grabbed my phone on the coffee table to see if I missed anything. I did miss a text from Leander.

  Landed　in　Florida,　hope　you’re　feeling　better.　I　know　Tristan　will　take　good　care　of　you　while　I　am　away.　I’ll　call　you　later.

  I sent him a quick text back.

  Sorry　I　missed　you　this　morning.　I　feel　like　crap　but　I　know　it’ll　be　over　in　a　few　days.　I　got　Tristan　in　the　kitchen　;)　Miss　you.　<3

  A few minutes later, my phone beeped with his text.

  Good　girl,　keep　them　pregnant,　and　barefooted　in　the　kitchen.　;)　miss　you.

  I laughed hard at that one. Leander was such a trip. I was going to miss him this week, but he went away on these trips all the time. I was used to it. I usually just hung out with Lacey, went out, worked, and watched every girly movie I could.

  Which is probably what I would be doing this week.

  I was using some of my sick days this week. I wasn’t in the mood or feeling up to going out. So I was pretty much going to be stuck to the couch and bed all week. Exciting.

  I relaxed back and grabbed my book off the table. I was almost finished with it, and it was getting really good. I got a few more pages in when Tristan popped into my view with a nice, hot bowl of soup. My lips turned up into a smile.

  “I didn’t know you were so domesticated, Tristan. You’re a wonderful caretaker.” I took the bowl from him and set it down on the table and then reached up for his shirt. I grabbed the material and slowly pulled him down to me.

  He got a wicked gleam in his eyes just before my lips were on his. A growl came from him. I really liked it when he did that. It fueled my hunger for him.

  Chapter 16

  A knock on the door interrupted us from continuing our tongue exploration. Tristan gave me one last kiss and then went to attend to the door.

  “No fucking way,” I heard Tristan mumble. I got up immediately to see who was here

  Oh no, Orion. This wasn’t going to be good.

  “Hey Thalia, I ran into Lacey today and she said you were sick.” He said looking at me, and then he looked at Tristan. I could swear I saw what looked like pure hate in his eyes. Like the type you see when someone wants to murder someone. But that couldn’t be. “I wanted to come check on you and see if you were okay,” he said as his eyes returned to me. They softened looking at me.

  “She will be fine. There is no need for you to check on her,” Tristan said angrily.

  What the hell?

  “No, it’s fine,” I said and pushed past Tristan. I was not going to allow some pissing contest on my front door.

  “Why don’t you go make yourself a bowl of soup?” I told Tristan. He glared his eyes at me, pleading me not to do this. I glared right back. He took deep breath and stomped off.

  “Sorry. Thank you for dropping by. I feel like shit and sound like shit as you can tell.” I tried to lighten the mood.

  Orion still looked like he wanted to hurt Tristan but gave me that boy next door smile. “Nah, you don’t sound too bad. If you need anything you know I’m just a few doors down.” He winked. Oh boy.

  “Thanks, I’m good now. I appreciate you stopping by.” I wasn’t trying to end this conversation, but I hadn’t seen him since I stupidly kissed him, and I didn’t want to tell him that I wasn’t interested in him like that now with Tristan an ear shot away.

  “No problem. I’ve got to go, but I’ll see you around, and like I said, if you need anything.” He looked towards the direction Tristan went and then back to me. “I’m here.” It almost sounded like a double meaning.

  “Thanks.” I kept it short. He just winked and walked off towards his apartment down the hall. Oh geez.

  I closed the door and went to find Tristan. He was stirring the pot of soup like it was his mission in life. I walked over and kissed his shoulder. His head turned towards mine, his face was unreadable.

  “Are you ok?” I asked.

  “You should stay away from that boy,” he said through clenched teeth.

  “He was just being nice,” I told him.

  He turned and wrapped his arms around me, bringing me close. “I can’t lose you, Thalia,” he told me.

  I shook my head. “You won’t,” I smiled.

 
; Orion was nice, but he couldn’t even hold a small ember to the fire I felt for Tristan. I was getting closer, and closer to falling in love with him.

  I smiled at the thought. I couldn’t tell him yet but maybe I could show him. I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and pulled him down to me.

  As soon as our lips touched, that soul connection struck me. This was where I belonged. With him. I put all of my feelings in this kiss. To let him know I was his.

  “Thalia,” he breathed out. He brought me even closer. As much as I was trying to convey to him, I felt that same feeling coming from him fast. I don’t know if it was love but it was intense. He pulled back and kissed my forehead.

  “I’m sorry. Just be careful around that boy okay? He looks like trouble.” He was very serious. I nodded and he smiled. God, he just melted me.

  See me there on the floor, that little puddle. Yep, that would be me.

  “Go eat your soup,” he nicely ordered. I did a little salute and went to the couch to eat my bowl.

  We stayed up the rest of the day watching “Scrubs” re-runs, and watching “Family Feud.” We were laughing and having fun. Once it got late, we both went to bed. Tristan and I were wrapped around each other like vines as we fell asleep.

  The next few days passed in the same manner. You know what they say, You always feel worse before you get better. Tristan never left my side. He cooked for me, took care of me, and just enjoyed being around me. We didn’t need to do anything to have fun. Fun was just being near each other.

  We laughed, talked, and kissed a little. But we were pretty mild. He brought his laptop over so he could do some work while I watched a girly movie, so It wasn’t like he did absolutely nothing.

  Lacey even came over and brought me her “special get-better soup,” which I ate because I care about her feelings, but it tasted horrible. It was great, apart from feeling like ass.

  Every night that had passed I hadn’t had any more dreams. Even in my little naps here and there. Nope, no dreams.

  It was finally Saturday and I felt a lot better. I just had a bit of the sniffles. Tristan and I drove to go pick up Leander from the airport.

  Leander had left us his SUV so we didn’t have to take my little Civic, which was good because it would feel a little snug in my car with Tristan and Leander. Stupid big men.

  As we pull through the pickup point, I see Leander’s tall frame standing next to a woman. Of course.

  He probably enjoyed the mile high club while he was out. Tristan chuckled next to me while looking them.

  “You just can’t take him anywhere,” I huffed.

  Leander saw us as we parked literally right next to him. He kissed the girl on the cheek and went to go put his stuff in the back.

  “Hey guys! Did you miss me?” he asked as soon as he was in the car. Tristan and I exchanged a glance. One that says in unison, let’s fuck with him.

  “Actually, I didn’t. Tristan moved in and has been keeping me company.” I tried to keep my face as serious as possible, but I don’t have that great of a poker face.

  Leander faked being upset as he crushed his hand to his heart. “Oh, you wound me, dove.”

  Tristan laughed. I practically crawled in the back seat to hug him.

  “Of course, you dumb ass! I’ve missed you!” He hugged me and pulled me the rest of the way to the back seat with him. Not very safe to do that, but whatever. He held me like I was his life line.

  “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” He then looked at Tristan. “Thanks for taking care of our girl here.” I swear my eyes started tearing up. He said, ‘our girl.’ My boys. I love them.

  I looked at Leander and then at Tristan. I did love them. My chest was bursting with emotion. I snuggled into Leander and inhaled his comfortable scent.

  My life was good. I had the best friend anyone could ask for, and the best boyfriend anyone could want. And once I was feeling one hundred percent better I was going to show them both what they meant to me.

  Another week went by. I went back to work, but I stayed the hell away from any snot-nosed kids. Hand sanitizer and I were like connected at the hip.

  Tristan had left a few days ago to go on a business trip, but we talked on the phone and texted each other constantly. I missed him. But I was getting Leander time this week. He was keeping me occupied. We played games, watched movies, went bar hopping, and even watched a game of little league we happened to drive by. I was happy.

  That was until I went to sleep and had another crazy dream. I wish it was one of the dreams where I was in Egypt but this wasn’t it.

  Chapter 17

  This was in that stupid forest. I didn’t see that creepy owl so that was cool. I walked around aimlessly. I sat on the bench that was under some tree over looking a little pond. I couldn’t feel Tristan anywhere. I sighed. I guess I would just sit here alone, until I woke up. “You won’t be alone Thalia.” I look towards the voice.

  A beautiful woman with brown hair stood before me. Her eyes were gold. She wore a gray maxi skirt, with a white t-shirt that had an owl on it. Great, the owl. “I’m sure you are curious why you keep having these dreams.”

  I looked at her, unsure if I should speak or not. “Who are you?”

  She just smiled at me. “I am your aunt, Thalia, and I’ve come to chat with you.”

  My aunt? “Um, I don’t have an aunt.” I confessed.

  She just smirked at me. “I am your aunt. Anyway that isn’t why I am here. I wanted to talk to you. I know you’re falling for Tristan.”

  What the hell? This woman just came up into my dream claiming to be my aunt and just started spouting out my feelings for Tristan. She held her hand in front of me signaling she isn’t finished talking. Okay.

  “I know you are confused. It’s expected. You will see soon enough. But I wanted to warn you. He isn’t who he says he is. You should stay away from him.” She was looking at me very seriously.

  I stood up in fury. “Seriously, lady. I don’t know you, and you are in my dream, telling me to stay away from my boyfriend.”

  She smiled at me sweetly but something in me was screaming to get away from her. That she was not up to good.

  “Why haven’t you been to his place yet? Why don’t you ask him about that tattoo and where that girl is now?” She did raise some questions I had thought of, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

  “Ah, I see you have already thought of those questions, huh dear?” What was she, a mind reader?

  I shook my head. “You aren’t real.” I closed my eyes.

  “I’m rea,l love. I am here for you. You will see I am your friend.” She patted my shoulder. I freaked out by the touch. I clenched my fists, ready to go to town on this woman, who claims to be friendly.

  I could feel it deep in my soul she was anything but that. As soon as I opened my eyes again she was gone. I fell to the ground in tears. Why was I crying? I didn’t care if some strange lady was telling me to stay away from my boyfriend. For some odd reason though, I couldn’t stop.

  Sadly, that is how I woke up. In tears. Leander came running in. He saw me crying and immediately crawled into bed with me. I went straight into his arms, not caring I was crying all over his bare chest. A few minutes later, my tears started to slow. “What happened, dove?” he asked softly.

  I took a deep breath through my mouth since my nose was all clogged from crying. “I keep having these dreams. This was the worst one.” Sniff.

  “Some lady came up in my dream, claiming to be my aunt. Then she told me that I should stay away from Tristan, that he is bad news. She was all friendly, but I felt in my soul that she wasn’t. I have no idea why I am crying.”

  He just continued to hold me. “It’s ok; I won’t let anything happen to you. What did this lady look like?”

  I thought about her. “She had brown hair, and gold eyes. She was really pretty.” I answered.

  I swear his body stiffened a little. “I wish I had dreams about pretty brown haired w
omen.” He was being his normal self-joking around, but it seemed like he was forcing it this time.

  “I wish I knew why I was upset,” I confessed. The more I thought about it, the more upset I became.

  My tears were turning to anger. Why was I dreaming up some woman like that? It wasn’t real. “You know what, it wasn’t real, and I don’t know why I am freaking out.” I sat up in a new mood. I was not going to let all of these dreams rule my life.

  “I’m here for you no matter what.”

  I kissed his forehead. “I know. You wanna hit the gym? I feel like I need to do something.” I got up and started rummaging through my closet for workout gear.

  “Sounds good.” He got up and did the same in his room. After getting dressed, we made our way down to the little gym.

  I put my ear buds in and pushed play on my kicking ass playlist. Heavy beats filled my ears as I ran on the treadmill like my life depended on it. I boxed with the punching bag and imagined that bitch in my dreams was the bag. I was determined. For what, I didn’t know, but I just knew that working out was helping. I wish I had some swords or something like in the other dream I had. That looked fun. Maybe I would find some martial arts class that worked with weapons.

  I sat down and did some stretches to cool down.

  “Good lord, you whipped your own ass today, dove.” Leander said as he joined me.

  I know I pushed myself hard today, my muscles were screaming at me already. But I needed it. “Yeah, I kinda did go hard today.” He just laughed and shook his head. We finished stretching and went back up the stairs to get cleaned up.

  I took a long shower, just letting the warm water calm my aching muscles. When I stepped out of the shower I heard my cell phone ringing in the bedroom. I hastily wrapped myself with a towel and ran to answer it.

  “Hello” I answer.

  “Hey Thalia babe. What are you doing today?” Lacey’s voice comes through.